More on the Fate of Consumer Class Actions

While consumer advocates are wringing their hands over the possible demise of consumer class actions in the wake of this week's U.S. Supreme Court decision AT&T Mobility v Concepcion, which upheld clauses  clauses that require individual arbitration in consumer disputes, banks are worried that the business community's victory in the case could be undone by a provision in the Dodd-Frank Act that allows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to revisit the issue and potentially decide to limit arbitration agreements in the future.  "I think consumer advocates will certainly turn to the CFPB in the wake of the ruling," Jo Ann Barefoot, a co-chair with Treliant Risk Advisers and a former deputy comptroller at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, told the American Banker.  Barefoot  said the CFPB has substantial leeway under the regulatory reform law. "Mandatory arbitration has been a top complaint of consumer groups for years," she said,  "and they clearly hope the bureau will curtail or regulate the practice."